Door opening and closing mechanism.



W. A. 61 0. H. OLEEN.

000R OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM. APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3, I9I5.

Patented June 18, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEEI 2.

INVENTOH ATTORNEY WITNESSES w. A. & 0. H. O'LEEN. DOOR OPENING ANDCLOSING MECHANISM.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 3. I915.

Patented J une 18, 1918.

2 SHEETS-SHEET I.

I INVENTOFI ,ewv,

ATTORNEY WITNESSES UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WILLIAM A. OLEEN AND OLOF H. OLEEN, OF COLUMBIA CITY, OREGON.

DOOR OPENING AND CLOSING MECHANISM.

Specification Letters Patent.

Patented J une 18, 1918.

Application filed November 3, 1915. Serial No. 59,436.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WILLIAM A. OLEEN and 0101* H. OLEEN, citizens ofthe United States, residing at Columbia Cit in the county of Columbiaand State 0 Ore on, have invented certain new and useful mrovements inDoor Opening and Closing KIechanisms, of which the following is aspecification.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements indoor opening and closing mechanisms, and has for its primary object, theprovision of improved mechanism which will be especially adapted foropening and closing the doors of a garage or the like.

The invention has for another object the provision of an improved dooropening and closing mechanism of this character which may be readilyoperated to open or close the doors from either within the building oroutside of thesame.

The invention has for another object the provision of improved mechanismof this character which will also include connecting means and door andlatch operating means, all of which may be controlled by operation ofthe wheel operated members.

The invention has for a still further object, the provision of a dooropening and closing mechanism of this character which will be extremelysimple in construction and operation, as Well as highly eiiicient in useand composed of the Ininimum number of parts.

With the above and other objects in view, the invention resides in thenovel construction, combination, and arrangement of parts as hereinafterset forth in the specification, pointed out in the claims, and shown inthe drawings, in which- Figure 1 is a perspective view of the improveddoor opening and closing mechanism, showing the same connected with apair of horizontally swinging doors of a garage or the like;

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the mechanism showing the doors and a portionof the frame for the same in section;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view of the upper portions of the doorsand the frame for the same with the doors shown in open position in fulllines and closed posi tion in dotted lines to illustrate the operationof the door connecting means;

Fig. 4: is a detail view showing the door latching means.

Referring more particularly to the drawings in which similar referencecharacters designate corresponding parts throughout 'the several views,1 designates the reciprocating operating rod which has the operatinglink 3 mounted upon its inner end and within which is engaged the rollerThe roller 2 is secured to one corner of the inverted U-shaped wheeloperated member 4' which has its lower ends pivoted, as shown at 5, tothe floor 6 of the building a suitable distance from the door frame 7and to one side of the hinged doors 8 and 9 mounted in said door frame7. The wheel operated member 4 has a suitable roller 10 loosely mountedon its upper horizontalportion and said wheel operated member 1 isresiliently retained in its normal or upright position by the spring 11secured to the floor 6 and having its arms 12 engaged against theopposite sides of the main portion of said wheel operated member 4.

The reciprocating operating rod 1 is preferably placed upon an inclineand has its central portion engaged through the elongated slot 13 in thefloor 6 beneath the door frame 7 and the outer ends of the reciprocatingoperating rod 1 has the link 14 formed thereon, within which is engagedthe'roller .15 mounted upon the depending end 16 of 'similar chain 23 isconnected with the outer collar 21. The chain 22 is extended around thecurved face of the semi-circular casting 24 and secured to the outervertical edge thereof as shown at 25, while the chain 22 is extendedaround the curved face of the casting 2i in the opposite direction andsecured to the inner and vertical edge thereof as shown at 26. Thecasting 24 is secured to the lower inner corner of the door 8, as shownat 27, and a suitable opening 28 is formed in this corner of the door 8to accommodate the chains 22 and 23.

A latch operating chain 29 has the diverging short connecting chains 30and 31 connected with one end and also connected, respectively, with thechains 22 and 23. The latch operating chain 29 extends through asuitable guide 33 mounted'upon the inner face of the door 8 near thebottom thereof and the remaining end of the latch operating chain 29 isconnected with the' niner upper corner of the pivoted latch plate 34.The latch plate 34: is pivoted to the inner face of the door 8 at thelower outer corner thereof, by a suitable pivot member 35 extendedthrough the lower inner corner of said latch plate 34. The ivoted latchplate 34: is resiliently retained in its lowermost or operative positionby means of a suitable spring 36 connected therewith and with the door 8and operating against the chain 29. \Vhen in its lowermost or operativeposition, the pivoted latch plate 31 is adapted for engagement with thekeeper 37 mounted upon the floor 6 to retain the dpors. 8 and 9 inclosed position, as clearly shown in Figs. 2 and 4 of the drawings. Thepivoted latch plate 34 is adapted to be guided in its movement upon itspivot 35 and limited in its movement by the guide pin projecting fromthe door 8 and engaged in the elongated and slightly curved guide slot39 in the pivoted latch plate 3-1.

The doors 8 and 9 are connected at their upper ends by means of aconnecting rod 40 which has one end pivoted in the small bracket 41secured to the inner face of the door 8. while the opposite end of theconnecting rod 40 is pivoted in the angula'rly extended bracket 42secured upon the inner face of the door 9 and projecting rearwardly fromthe same. By referring to Fig. 3 of the drawings, it will be readilyseen that as the door 8 is swung in either direction, the door 9 iscompelled to swing with the same, thereby assuring proper opening andclosing of the doors 8 and 9. Movement of the doors '8 and 9 outwardlyis limited, however, by the chain 413 which has one end connected to theinner face of the door 8, while the opposite end is secured to the doorframe in any suitable manner above said door 8.

It will be understood that a suitable roller 44 is mounted upon theouter wheel operated member 17, and is practically the same as the rollr 10 on the wheel operated member 1. It will also be readily seen thatshould the wheel of an automobile or other vehicle pass over the roller14 or the roller 10 and swing the wheel operated member carrying saidroller toward the door frame 7, the reciprocating operating rod 1 willbe forced forwardly, thereby causing the operating chain 23 to pull theconnecting chain 31 and swing the pivoted latch plate 3st to inoperativeposition against the tension of the spring 36 and also pull uponthesemicircular casting 31 to swing the door 8 upon its hinges to openposition, the connecting rod 40 compelling the door 9 to also swingoutwardly with the door 8 until both doors are in open position, asshown in Fig. 3. The spring 11 will immediately act to return the wheeloperated members 4 to normal position. 7

As soon as a wheel of the vehicle passes over one of the vehicleoperated members i and 17 in a reverse direction to swing said member inthe opposite direction, the reciprocating rod'l will be drawn inwardly,causing the chain 2:2 to pull upon the chain 30 and again swing thelatch plate 34 to inoperative position and then pull upon the oppositeside of the semi-circular casting 24 to swing the doors 8 and 9 toclosed position.

As soon as the wheel leaves the wheel operated members, the spring 11will again act to return the wheel operated member 4. The spring 11 isonly for the purpose of returning wheel member 4 to normal position. Theoutside wheel member 17 is returned to its normal position by the weightof the outer end of the operating bar and link acting as a weight on theroller 15 The operating bar 1 is only operated in conjunction with thedoors 8 and 9. As will be noted, the links 3 and 14 are of specialimportance as to make a simple reverse of the mechanism. possible,(which is absolutely necessary) in that the wheel members 4: and 17 canreturn to a normal position without moving the operating bar, whichwould also operate the doors 8 and 9.

It is necessary that the wheel members 4 and 17 be able to assume anormal position without moving the operating bar 1. For instance, thefront wheel of a car entering would .press the wheel member 17downwardly and said wheel member 17 would assume a normal position asthe wheel of the car leaves it. The rear wheel of the car would thenpass over the wheel member 17, but this would not operate the mechanism,because of the link 14 which allows the wheel member 17 to be presseddownwardly any number of times in the same direction and returned to itsnormal position without operating the mechanism after the first time.This also holds good in the reverse movement of a car over said wheelmember 17.

It will also be understood that when the wheel operated members 1 and 17are returnedto normal position, the strain upon the latch operatingchain 29 is relieved and the spring 36 permitted to act to return thepivoted latch plate 3% to normal position, so that it may again engagethe keeper 37 to lock the doors 8 and 9 against movement when the doors8 and 9 are in closed position. When the doors 8 and 9 are in openposition, however, and the strain upon the latch operating chain 29 isrelieved by a return of the wheel operated members 4 and 17 to normalposition the spring 36 serves to return the pivoted "latch plate 84 toits lowermost or normal position and permit the same to engage the outerkeeper 45 secured to the floor 6 outwardly of the doors 8 and 9 and'theframe 7.

\Vhile the preferred embodiments of the invention have been shown anddescribed, it will be understood that minor changes in the details ofconstruction, and arrangement of parts may be resorted to within thescope of the appended claims without departing from the spirit of theinvention or sacrificing any of the advantages of the same.

What is claimed is:

1. In a door opening and closing mechanism, the combination of pivotalwheel engaging members adapted to be placed on opposite sides of a door,each member pivoted at one end to a fixed support, a lever armprojecting from one of said members on the opposite side of its pivotalaxis, a ri id operating rod extending continuously ebetween said membersand having a longitudinal slot in each end, a pivot projecting from oneof said members into the slot at one end of said rod for operating thesame, a like pivot on the lever arm of the other member engaging theslot in the opposite end of the rod, resilient means for holding thefirst member in operative position, the second named member beingoperatively maintained through the weight of said arm and the end of theattached operating rod, the slots in said rod being sufficiently long topermit the wheel engageable members to return to position after beingoperated without moving the rod and also permit the rod when moved toslide inactively on the pivot of the non-operating member, a door, andindependent flexible connections between the door on each side and theoperating rod on the same side.

2. In a door opening and closing mechanism, the combination of pivotalwheel engaging members adapted to be placed on opposite sides of a door,each member pivoted at one end to a fixed support, a lever armprojecting from one of said members on the opposite side of its pivotalaxis, a rigid operating rod extending continuously between said membersand having a longitudinal slot in each end a pivot projecting from oneof said members into the slot at one end of said rod for operatin thesame, a like pivot on the lever arm 0% the other member engaging theslot in the opposite end of the rod, resilient means for holding thefirst member in operative position, the second named member beingoperatively maintained through the weight of said arm and the end of theattached operating rod, the slots in said rod being sufiiciently long topermit the wheel engageable members to return to position after beingoperated without moving the rod and also permit the rod when moved toslide inactively on the pivot of the non-operating member, a pivoteddoor, an arcuate plate fixed to said door having its axis in line withthe pivotal axis of the door, a flexible connection fastened to each endof said arcuate plate, said connections extending in opposite directionsaround said plate to opposite sides of the door and then to theoperating rod to which theyare attached at a distance from the door andon opposite sides of the same.

In testimony whereof we aflix our signatures in presence of twowitnesses.

WILLIAM A. OLEEN. OLOF H. OLEEN. Witnesses:

D. T. GERDES, Nona S. Garcons.

